The Issue Of Client Relationships And Ethical Boundaries...

Brief overview of the dilemma. Obtain as much info as you can about the situation. i.e.who all is involved, varying perspectives. Unlike many other fields, in the human service field professionals use a lot of themselves in order to help those in need. Unfortunately, a lot of times this can lead to boundary issues, and the development of secondary relationships. These relationships can include nonsexual and legitimate interactions, many of which are unplanned and inadvertent, yet still have ethical ramifications. At times social workers’ ethical obligations conflict with their own personal morals or feelings. When these conflicts occur it iS the responsibility of the social worker to adhere by the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and resolve the conflict in a manner that is in agreement with the standards, values and principles listed in the code. This paper will explore the issue of client relationships and ethical boundaries for those working in social work. Ethical issues related to professional boundaries are common and complex. Some boundary issues arise because of social worker s’ genuinely altruistic inclinations. Boundary issues occur when social workers establish more than one relationship with their former or current clients. The relationship can be professional, social, or business. Boundaries are â€Å"the limits that allow for a safe connection based on the client’s needs†(Peterson, 1992, p. 74). In the mental health professions, dualShow MoreRelatedEthics in Counseling Essay example1667 Words   |  7 PagesBoundary Issues and the Dual Relationship By Jennifer Ewings Willis PCN 505, Ethics in Professional Counseling Dr. Gloria Gabler, Instructor Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships In the Counseling field, Counselors will encounter many instances of boundary issues. These types issues will occur when practitioners establish more than one relationship with clients. 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Pruitt Liberty University Abstract Professional counselors deal with many legal and ethical issues in the course of treating clients. Some of the issues they may come across include dual relationships, boundaries, bartering, sexual relationships, gift giving, touching a client, and how to begin or end treatment. Some of these issues may seem straightforward in theory, but they can become complicated in practice. In these cases, if possible

Develop Literacy in Young Children Writing - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about the Develop Literacy in Young Children Writing. Answer: Introduction Early Childhood Education is an education theory which is associated with educating children who are below the age of eight. While providing early childhood education, educators use different teaching strategies to develop the academic skills of the children. In this report, the lack of two academic skills of Harper and Madison are detected and effective teaching strategies have been evaluated in order to fulfill their requirements. Information and communicational Technologies (ITC) are also incorporated while developing the strategies. Apart from this, this report also contains the learning experiences of the mentioned students along with the importance and benefits of the ITC tools used in the proposed activities. Discussion Teaching strategy for Harper From the narrative written by Harper, it can be clearly understood that Harper is facing issues with spelling. Hence, in order to fulfill his requirement a teaching strategy has been designed for him where Harper will be given a writing activity which he will have the complete. In this activity he will be guided by the educator (Fellowes Oakley, 2011). The teaching strategy that can be considered to be appropriate for Harper for developing his punctuation skill is guided writing activity. Teaching Methods The first activity suggested for Harper to improve his concept of spelling can be called Look and Write activity. In this activity, the educator will let Harper watch the picture of an animate or inanimate object that will appear on the screen of the Interactive white board. Then he has to pronounce the name of the object. After that, he shall be asked to write down the name of the object on the board. If Harper writes the right spelling on the board, the color of the spelling will be green, otherwise, it will automatically change to red. In cases where, Harper will write the wrong spelling, he will correct the spelling taking help from the educator. As soon as the right spelling will be written on the Interactive White Board, the word will turn green. Another activity that can be suggested for Harper is Spelling Fun activity. In this activity, like the previous one, an object will display on the white board. Objects with complex spellings should be chosen for this activity. Once the object is shown, Harper will be asked the name of this object. In this step, he may need the help of the educator to identify uncommon objects. Once he successfully identifies the object, all the letters needed to spell the object appears on the IWB but in a haphazard manner. Now, it will be the task of Harper to arrange the letters and write it down on IWB, just under the object. Assessment instruments and practices The two major instruments required for this teaching strategy are the Interactive White Board and the Interactive dictionary. The sound recording system of the Interactive white board helps the educator to use the same word for teaching spelling again and again, the interactive dictionary helps the students to know the meaning of a difficult term easily, which in turn helps them to remember the spelling of that word. Learning Experience Through this interactive learning strategy, students like Harper will not only be able to learn the spelling of different objects, but this strategy will also develop their pronunciation and hearing capability. This activity will help Harper to learn reading and writing some high frequency words and other familiar words (ACELA1817). Besides that, this activity will help him understand that words are units of meaning and can be made of more than one meaningful part (ACELA1818). Considering the fact that this activity will ensure to fulfill the spelling requirement of Harper, the above mention activity will develop the concept of becoming in Harper (The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, 2009). Teaching Strategy for Madison It can be clearly understood after reading the narrative written by Madison, that she is facing issues with grammar skills. In order to develop her grammar skills, sharing writing strategy needs to be implemented. In a sharing learning strategy, both the educator and the students participate in a particular task and try to solve the problem together (Fellowes Oakley, 2011). Teaching method Considering the fact that Madison is suffering from grammar errors while writing, a game named, Synonym Scramble, can be played with her to improve her usage of synonym and antonym along with the overall development of her vocabulary. The materials needed to play the game are some index cards, a paper in which the educator has written a good number of words along with their synonyms and two pens of two different colors. Few of the index cards shall contain a word written in blue pen and the other cards shall hold the name of the synonyms of the already written words, written in red pen. Finally all red and blue cards are piled separately and left as two hips of cards (Fellowes Oakley, 2011). The teacher will pick up a random card from the pile and call out the word written in it along with stating Madison which color of the card has she/he picked up. Madison shall search for the synonym of that particular word from the other pile of cards. Another game that can be suggested for Madison is Find the error Activity. In this activity, the Interactive White Board (IWB), an ITC tool, can be used for obtaining better learning experiences. A short story with several grammar errors will appear on the screen of IWB. Madison shall be asked to circle the errors present in the story. In cases where she circles the right error the circle will turn green, otherwise it will turn red. The educator will assist him with his work while needed. Assessment instruments and practices Apart from two pens of different colors and several number of index cards, the ITC tool used here is the Interactive white board. This ITC tool will not only make the activity more attractive to Madison, but will also ensure that Madison is circling the right error at one go (Leggett Ford, 2013). Learning Experiences Initially Madison may face problems while picking u the right synonym. However after two or three sessions of the game, she will be able to pick up the right card. This game will help her to learn synonyms as well as improve her vocabulary. The second activity will not only reinforce the concept of verb, noun and adverb in Madison but also will help her to learn correct sentence construction. With the help of the above mentioned activities, Madison will be able to recognize that texts are made up of words and groups of words that make meaning (ACELA1434). This activity will ensure the development of sense of becoming and belonging in Harper. Apart from enhancement of grammatical use, this activity will require group coordination (The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, 2009). Description of the Instruments and Practices involved in the activity For the above mentioned activities, two of the most common he Information and communication technologies can be used. The first ITC tool used for the activities is Interactive White board. An interactive white board can be defined as a large interactive display, generally attached with the wall of the classroom (Leggett Ford, 2013). other ITC tool used for the above mentioned teaching strategy is an Interactive Dictionary. An interactive dictionary is generally used in classrooms in order to help children learn the meaning of difficult words. Digital dictionaries are general a device with a key board, a screen and a voice recorder. An individual can either type or pronounce the word whose meaning is to be known and the dictionary will automatically show the output on its screen. Features and benefits of Interactive White Board In this era of modernization, an Interactive White Board is considered to be very helpful to educators. This tool is considered to be an effective ITC instrument that improves learning, collaboration skills and communicational skills in children. It has been found that majority of the children at early childhood stage, learn more efficiently through visualization than through auditory lessons. Considering the fact that interactive white boards are all about visualization while learning, it helps the children to memorize their lesson easily. The above teaching strategy will help the both Harper and Madison to visualize the correct spelling and grammar. This in turn, will help them to memorize their lesson more easily. Apart from that, IWB also helped the educator to represent the activities to Harper and Madison in a fun way and with colorful pictures and attractive representation (Lingard, (2011). Features and benefits of Interactive dictionary Interactive dictionary will help the students to learn the meaning of difficult words. Since the children will have to listen to the meaning of the word pronounced by the machine, the whole process will enhance the hearing ability of both Harper and Madison. This device will also prove to be beneficial for both Madison and Harper, since it can also used to correct their spelling errors. Assessment for Harpers spelling improvement Considering the fact that for proper concept of spelling a word, it is very crucial to hear the word correctly. Hence, the first step to access Harpers spelling error will be to ask him to pronounce the word correctly. Secondly the above mention activities suggested for Harper will b performed and a good number of Harpers learning sample will be collected (Fellowes Oakley, 2011). Then, the words spelt by Harper will be collected separately and all the spelling error will be catagorised on the basis of the pattern of the spelling errors. Assessment of Madisons grammar Improvement For Madison, the first step to access her grammatical error is to have a conversation with her along with asking her some open-ended questions. It has been found that children are often more comfortable in answering questions verbally than writing activities (Fellowes Oakley, 2011). After the conversation, the mentioned activities are performed and several writing sample of Madison are collected. The next step involves collection of the error samples and categorizing them on the basis of similar type of grammatical error. Conclusion: From the above report it can be concluded that in order to fulfill the mentioned academic requirements of both Harper and Madison, the proposed teaching strategies can be implemented. Considering the fact that Harper has issues with correctly spelling words, regular sessions of the above mentioned activities which are referred to Harper needs to be performed. Since the chief problem in Madisons narrative is grammar errors, especially errors in proper usage of synonyms, the activities referred to Madison crucially concentrates on developing her grammatical skills. Finally, it can be said that the above mentioned activities will surely helped in the development of academic skills in both Harper and Madison if appropriately implemented. Reference List: Fellowes, J., Oakley, G. (2011). Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education.Oxford University Press. Hedges, H., Cullen, J. (2012). Participatory learning theories: A framework for early childhood pedagogy.Early Child Development and Care,182(7), 921-940. Leggett, N., Ford, M. (2013). A fine balance: Understanding the roles educators and children play as intentional teachers and intentional learners within the'Early Years Learning Framework'.Australasian Journal of Early Childhood,38(4), 42. Lingard, B. (2011). Policy as numbers: Ac/counting for educational research.The Australian Educational Researcher,38(4), 355-382. The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. (2009). [ebook] Available at: https://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf [Accessed 17 Jan. 2018].

Lord Of The Flies Essays (794 words) - Fiction,

Lord Of The Flies In the book ?The Lord of the Flies? the author uses the conch as a symbol of unity. At the beginning of the story the conch was spotted by a boy named Ralph who did not know what it was, but the other boy named Piggy sed that it was called a conch. Piggy had an idea to blow it to get other people on the island to come to them. After Ralph retrieved the conch from the lagoon Piggy showed Ralph how to blow it. His first couple of tries were weak, then he bellowed into it . The conch made a deep, harsh noise . After a few blows boys started to come out out of the jungle . The conch is what first united the stranded boys together. The author also used the conch as a sign of power, because after the boys were together they decided that they needed a chief so they chose Ralph because he used the conch to call the others to them. Ralph also used the power of the conch to quiet the boys . When he wanted their attention and for them to be quiet he would hold up the conch and wait for them to be quiet and pay attention. He also used it to call the boys back to camp. At the beginning the boys went out to look for water but by the time they found some Ralph had blew on the conch to call them back to camp . The conch was used by Ralph to call the boys to a meeting. During the meetings a person could only speak if they raise their hand and hold up the conch . At the meeting to discuss the fire Ralph blew on the conch to call them to the meeting . After everyone was seated Ralph lifted the conch for them to be silent then he began to explain that they were on an uninhabited island with no grownups so they would have to look after themselves . That's when Ralph made the rules about the conch at the meetings. He tried to boost there moral by making the island sound fun. In the book when Ralph notices that the conch has been paretically bleached by the sun and had become a creamy-pink color. The author used the fading color of the conch to show that the boys were growing apart. Because that's when you really notice that Jack holds no regard for Ralph's rules and rather go his own way. At the same meeting is when the little boy speaks out about a beast that Simon clames isn't real and the beast is inside man himself. Jack insists that they need to hunt more , but Ralph doesn't agree with him and instead he said they needed to build shelters incase another storm came like the one they encountered upon their arrival . Ralph also said their first priority is to get rescued and to get rescued they needed more smoke. But Jack still insisted they needed to hunt more. Jacks defiance shows that he will soon go his own way. Near the end of the book when the conch is destroyed and Piggy is killed by a huge boulder that was rolled down a hill at the castle rock by Roger. After Jack and some other boys split off into their own tribe . They set up camp at a place they called ?Castel Rock? . Piggy was upset that they had taken his glasses. So Ralph and Piggy went to go and get them back. Ralph told Piggy to get the conch to take it with them, as if he thought it still possessed power over Jack's tribe. When they got down there Ralph asked for Jack. When Jack came out Ralph told him to give Piggy's glasses back. After some arguing over the fire among other things Roger started tossing rocks down at them from the top of the castle rock. Roger still had one hand on the lever that was wedged under the boulder while he was throwing the rocks. Then Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever and the boulder went crashing down the hill. The rock struck Piggy with a hard

Free Online Public Schools in Georgia

Free Online Public Schools in Georgia Georgia offers resident students the opportunity to take online public school courses for free. Below is a list of online schools currently serving elementary and high school students in Georgia. Most programs are free to residents, but one program may require students to pay a fee. To qualify for the list, schools must meet the following qualifications: Classes must be available completely online.They must offer services to state residents.They must be funded by the government. Virtual schools listed may be charter schools, statewide public programs, or private programs that receive government funding. Georgia Connections Academy This website for this online school notes that: Students throughout Georgia have the opportunity to thrive at Georgia Connections Academy Charter School, a tuition-free public cyber school. (The online program) gives students the flexibility to learn at home with an online curriculum that meets rigorous state  education  standards.   The school offers: A  curriculum  developed by leading education expertsInstruction from state-certified  teachers  experienced in  online instructionSupport from trained counselors, principals, and administrative staffCurriculum materials  needed to participate in a dynamic online learning environment Georgia Credit Recovery The Georgia  Credit Recovery Program gives students who did not initially succeed in obtaining course credit the chance to earn credit toward  graduation. The school notes that it provides: Flexible  schedulesComplete core courses, aligned to state standards, for which the student will demonstrate mastery before receiving a gradeSome elective courses The courses, however, are not taught by a teacher, and even though the program is publicly funded, students may incur a fee. Georgia Cyber Academy The Georgia Cyber Academy is for kindergarten through 12th-grade students and offers: Full-time, tuition-free online public educationSupport from state-certified teachersStudents a chance to earn college credit while in high school in select coursesHigh-interest courses that introduce a variety of possible careersA range of extracurricular activities Georgia Virtual Academy A tuition-free, online public school, Georgia Virtual Academy offers: Individualized  learning plans  targeted to each students strengths and weaknessesGeorgia-certified teachers who guide progress and tailor teaching to student needsAn advanced-learner programThe opportunity for qualified high school  students to earn college creditsField trips, social activities, and clubs  help students connect Georgia Virtual School Georgia Virtual School is sponsored by the Georgia Department of Educations Curriculum and Instruction Division. The program, operated in partnership with schools and parents across the state, offers over 100 middle and high school courses in the core content areas, world languages and electives as well as a number of AP courses. The school also has  online media and guidance centers The school also offers some flexibility in course schedules, including: For fall and spring, students can choose an 18-, 16-, 14- or 12-week  schedule.For fall and spring,  Advanced Placement  courses are only offered on the 18-, 16- or 14-week schedule.For summer, students can select either a six- or five-week schedule.

Gun Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gun Control - Essay Example It is suggested that in a typical year, the possibility of murders committed by use of firearm is two out of three. Different demographic groups are affected by crime differently. Victims attributed to violent crime include; the low-income earners and those living in developed urban areas. Not only are the people in this kind of demographic division more likely to be the victims but also possibilities of them being perpetrators are also high as well. Repeatedly, the issues relating to crime are normally told in a statistical perspective rather than real life stories (Wilson, 2007, p. 2 & 3). Officials in elected posts opt for scare tactics rather than reasoning while dealing with the gun control issue. Opinions have been raised regarding the guns control issue with some of the opinion that gun control will reduce violence crime while others are of the opinion that gun control is unwanted interference into a citizen’s personal affairs (Wilson, 2007, p. 4). How has the gun indus try prevailed against additional strengthened gun control laws? The gun industry has employed various tactics to ensure that they remain in the market despite the numerous additional laws that are legislated for the sole purpose of controlling guns within the American community. Wal-Mart, which is regarded as America’s largest retailer of firearms, has been indicated to be intergrading with democrats as well as president Obama’s policies and in particular the health care reform bill. In support to the government’s reforms in the health care Wal-Mart suggested that it supported the notion that companies ought to contribute to its employees’ cost of health care. It is such moves in one way or the other create a soft spot on the government in regards to the firearm industry (Roig-Franzia, 2009, p. 2). The gun industry has also used sections of the existing laws to its advantage as indicated by Roig-Franzia. The mayors against illegal guns group is said to ha ve failed to repeal amendments brought forth by Todd Tiahart that prevented the bureau of firearms from sharing crucial information on the grounds of privacy. This kind of amendments only help to assert more market share to the gun industry as most of the clients will be willing to purchase a firearm on the basis that their privacy is guaranteed (Roig-Franzia, 2009, p. 2). Policies that restrict or control the use of gun have a dim future ahead as they are bound to fail according to the gun rights advocates. This is because most of the perpetrators of crime most of the time possess a firearm through illegal means that might include stealing or buying it from the black market. It is also suggested that by using the gun control, crime rate might rise, as the criminals will be confident while attacking their victims as the probability of the victim to be unarmed is high. In conclusion, these perspectives only increase the life of the gun industry even more (Wilson, 2007, p. 11). Accord ing to Bruce and Wilcox, the role of the Regan administration was minimal in the deliberation of gun control issues by the congress. The NRA on the other hand kept up extensive efforts to ensure Attorney General was neutralized in terms of his reserves to McClure Volkmer bill. It is the passage of the legislation in 1986 that indicated the NRA’s zenith influence especially on Capitol Hill. NRA campaigned vigorously in Washington D.C and its grass roots. The NRA is said to have

Do Smartphones Benefit Classroom Learning or Not Essay

Do Smartphones Benefit Classroom Learning or Not - Essay Example Many governments in the world today have acknowledged the importance of technology by either including it as a subject in its own right in the curriculum, or stressing its importance as a set of cross-curricular skills, usually ICT. Technology allows information to be presented more accurately and more attractively than by most traditional means, so that it engages the attention of the user. Despite having its benefits technology has its disadvantages and many people have pointed at them as reasons why smart phones are not good for class room learning (Academic Conferences Limited and Balcaen 159). The use of smart phones in classroom learning has its failures and benefits at the same time (Winebrenner and Brulles 214). However, the benefits certainly outweigh the failures. This paper supports the use of smart phones in class room learning by arguing on its benefits against its failures. The term smart phone is generally used to refer to more advanced cellular phone, whose capabiliti es outdo those of feature phones. Smartphones are primarily communication devices, but today, their functions have increased. Many schools today allow students to use their smart phones or other handled devices in the classroom. One thing people should not forget is that smart phones are not limited to classroom learning, but can also be used to do further research after class, making them very beneficial to learning. For example, smart phones have software’s such as cameras, which are extremely helpful for creating digital projects. Students today are always finding ways to get connected. For example, children of all ages now know how to use smartphones more than their parents. Research has shown that even at the age of three, some children learn how to use their parent’s smart phones. The Benefits of using Smart Phones for Classroom Learning There are many benefits that come with using smart phones in classroom learning. These include: a. Reducing boredom in classroo m learning People have argued that though smart phones reduce boredom in classes by making learning lively, students in this new age are highly motivated by technology and thus, tend to be very mischievous when the class is still in session. They tend to log-in social sites and instead of concentrating in class they, are busy exchanging non-educational materials leading to poor performance in academics Davies and Eynon point out that â€Å"opportunities to continue out-of-school uses of technology when in school have been limited or non-existent until quite recently for most young people† (1931). However, many are times that teachers look for ways to inspire or motivate learners in class. For example, one will find them opening doors and windows, also engaging the learners in singing so as to make them want to learn. Technology and in this case smartphones can play a key part in achieving this easily. It is very evident of how children of this new age are motivated easily by technology. A research done in 2006 suggested that â€Å"technology can have a positive impact on pupil’s levels of concentration, self-confidence, self-esteem, independence, and behavior† (Waugh and Jolliffe n.p.). b. Smart phones provide access to the curriculum for children with special educational needs Smart phones and especially those used by special needs learners, like any technology, are not cheap to purchase. In some schools, they are limited in meeting the needs of each and every student. This does not make learning any simple for such people, but rather, complicates their lives more and at the end, their goals are not achieved. Despite this, smart phones have

Online Buyology Essay Example for Free

Online Buyology Essay Descriptions of China’s economy are often paired with the best of accolades: promising, miraculous and meteoric, to name a few. But observers rarely use the words â€Å"fair† and â€Å"transparent† to describe the country’s business environment. One need not look far to see why: rampant corruption, preferential policies for state-owned companies, and copious red tape all prevent private enterprises from thriving. Yet out of this unequal playing field, e-commerce giant Alibaba and web portal Sina have created two of the fairest and most transparent business platforms in China. Alibaba allows individuals and companies to sell goods on its Taobao platform, giving vendors a set of standards and leaving everything else to their discretion. Weibo is similarly a free-for-all of Chinese expression, with the notable exception of controversial political topics. Both Taobao and Weibo have exploded since their founding and have maintained commanding leads in their respective fields. Taobao sales were US$58. 7 billion (RMB370 billion) in 2010 while Tmall, a site aimed at more developed brands spun off of Taobao in 2008, currently has about 55,000 vendors. And in the two years since Sina Weibo’s founding, the Twitter-like service has racked up 250 million users. â€Å"If you ask people, ‘Why you want to shop online? ’ I think many people will say that it gives transparency of pricing†¦ people look for convenience, people like more information,† said Phil Wei, China CEO of Export Now, a startup that allows US-based companies to list products on Tmall. â€Å"One thing [Alibaba founder] Jack Ma did is offer freedom to all these consumers and all these business units. † The free market The freedom to compete is giving rise to third-party service providers that could become some of the most dynamic companies in the Chinese economy. As has been the case with US tech giants Twitter and Ebay, Taobao and Weibo have both spawned an eco-system of third-party companies that provide related services, making the platforms practically an economy unto themselves. The type of third-party service providers surrounding the two platforms reflects the different aims of Taobao and Weibo. â€Å"Taobao is doing usiness transaction[s] while Weibo is media spreading information,† said Deco You, a Beijing-based analyst at iResearch, an online market research company. This discrepancy results in very different growth rates, said You. â€Å"The number of Taobao-related companies will increase much faster than those Weibo-related ones. † In addition to opportunities to sell goods, Taobao and Tmall offer business opportunities for subcontractors that provide services to vendors , such as store design, customer service, logistics and marketing. As a media platform, Weibo naturally lends itself to marketing companies, which began to emerge about a year after Weibo’s founding. Yang Xin, founder of marketing firm Weichuanbo, said he knows of at least 10 start-up companies that also specialize in Weibo, not to mention traditional marketing firms which have entered the arena. Despite these differences, doing business centered on either Taobao or Weibo is remarkably similar. The short lead times and relatively limited barriers to entry have resulted in fierce competition among many similar companies. Many of these third-party companies are quick to copy each other’s successes, a common tactic in China where enforcement of intellectual property rights is not as strong as in the West. But instead of knock-offs, the competition seems to foster flexibility. Weichuanbo has upgraded its software platform three times in attempt to stay ahead of copycats, Yang said. The companies also compete for the best online real estate on Weibo and Taobao. Taobao and Tmall sell ad spaces to the right of search results, although search results themselves are organic and depend on sales and consumer ratings. Weibo marketing companies commonly pay influential users to promote their products. Weichuanbo compensates about 200,000 users for their help, and Yang hopes that number will someday grow to 2-3 million. The instant feedback of web analytics also means that companies know immediately if they are falling behind the competition. If a user doesn’t like an attempt at viral marketing on Weibo, they are likely to say so or ignore it altogether. Shoppers on Taobao are just as quick to pass judgment. â€Å"Online, if a client comes to your store, if they stay longer than five seconds your store is not bad,† said Wei of Export Now. That means the chances they become frequent visitors will be significantly higher. But if [they stay] less than five seconds, they probably will not come back again. † Taobao- and Weibo-related companies also compete for unbridled optimism. Weichuanbo aims to have more than 300% in annual revenue growth within the next two years. Export Now expects to have some 300 US manufacturers selling through its service and US$1. 59-3. 18 million (RMB10-20 million) in revenue by the end of the year, up from virtually nothing at the present. The market will keep growing and the trend will continue in the next five to 10 years, and the expansion brings about more opportunities for third-party companies,† said Dong Xu, an analyst at research firm Analysys International. Yet growth in the Weibo community may not be sustainable. The government-led research center China Internet Network Information Center issued a report last month stating that new signups for Weibo began to slow in the second half of 2011. Weibo users nearly quadrupled from the end of 2010 to 250 million. With only 500 million internet users in China, however, continuing at that pace will be impossible. Although user growth will slow, there is still much money to be made. Spending on internet marketing is projected to grow to US$12. 5 billion (RMB79. 1 billion) in 2012, up from an estimated US$8. 1 billion in 2011 and US$5. 2 billion in 2010, according to iResearch. Marketing revenue in China is likely to continue growing quickly, said You of iResearch. Advertisers have only recently begun to shift online, attracted by ad space that is often more targeted and cost-effective than traditional print and TV advertising. Marketing and analytics companies can strive to grab more of that revenue by improving on underdeveloped technology and becoming more efficient, said You. Foreign companies with better technology and efficient operations could also enter the market, though they will still be limited by cultural barriers. Taobao and Weibo could also begin providing additional marketing services themselves. Taobao launched an internet marketing division in April 2010 called the Taobao Alliance, which quickly grew to have US$238 million (RMB1. 5 billion) in revenue, according to iResearch. This potential for new entrants means the market for third-party services is likely to remain highly competitive. Many companies that fail to keep up with the pace of innovation will undoubtedly be pushed out of business or be acquired by more successful competitors. But those that do innovate and survive will probably be among the most dynamic companies in China’s internet sector, regardless of the platform. As Wang Weili of Taobao marketing firm Shenzhen Fangwei E-Commerce puts it: â€Å"There might be other websites driving our business in the future. But where there are clients is where we will be. †